In my quest to find the perfect headset for the Wii U, I weighed several options before settling on something a little unconventional. The Razer Electra is certainly not marketed as a Wii U headset like some of the “official” headsets from Tritton and Turtle Beach, but that’s a good thing. My experience with Turtle Beach headsets has been mediocre sound quality and absolutely atrocious build quality, so I decided to pass on those. The only other option seemed to be the Tritton Kunai, but having no experience with the Tritton brand, I was hesitant to spend $50 on a headset I may end up hating.

Enter the Razer Electra. As a PC gamer, I’m very familiar with Razer peripherals. I’ve owned headsets, keyboards and mice from the company and I’ve had limited trouble with any of the peripherals I’ve owned. The Razer Electra is a basic 3.5mm jack offering that works superbly well with the Wii U, offering a comfortable fit, great sound, and interchangeable cords that can be detached for easy storage.

One Size Fits All

One of the problems I’ve experienced in the past with headsets marketed toward consoles is that they don’t seem to be very flexible. Either I have a very small head, or peripheral makers like Turtle Beach have found that their average customer has a beach ball sitting on top of their shoulders. The Electra fits me snugly to the point where I can lean forward without the headset falling from my head, which is a win in my books. It’s also quite expandable, so even if your head is larger than mine, I’m sure it’ll fit you well, too.

The overall construction of the headset is pretty solid as well. The ear cups are a hard molded plastic that can be extended to fit you, while the headband features a soft faux-leather material to keep the band from hurting your head. The ear cups feature the same faux-leather material and cup your entire ear, providing a good bit of noise isolation while wearing them. I’ve worn them for 6 hour sessions playing Injustice so far and bought the headset exclusively for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and have experienced no discomfort. Nearly every brand of headset I’ve tried from Logitech to Plantronics has been uncomfortable after just a few hours, but not the Razer Electra.

Sound Quality

Of course the most important aspect of a headset outside of whether or not it makes your ears ache is if it sounds good. Razer has that down pat, as I found myself noticing subtle sounds in Injustice and Toki Tori 2 that I had not noticed when playing with the sound coming through my TV. The headset already provides good noise isolation after placing it on your head, but with the Wii U GamePad volume set to medium, I wasn’t able to hear anything beyond the sounds of the GamePad. That’s the kind of immersion you want as a gamer and I commend Razer for getting it right.

As for the mic, it’s a pretty standard affair that’s neither great nor the worst thing I’ve ever used. For one, there are no controls for it since it’s an inline mic. When it’s plugged in, it’s picking up most of the noise around you. The only way to mute it is to unplug it unless you turn off mic settings in the game, which is rather unfortunate. Living with other people in the household, sometimes it’s nice to hit a hardware mute button so I can ask a question or be asked a question without my game companions going, “What?”

The nice thing about the headset is that the cord is completely detachable, making it easy to store. Once you’re done with the Electra, you can fold up the ear cuffs and tuck it away into a drawer, sight unseen. The Electra comes with a wire without a mic and a wire with a mic, so you can choose which you want to use for games. If you’re just playing a game that doesn’t require cooperation like Monster Hunter 3, the non-mic option is great.

Build Quality

Aside from how the headset sounds and feels, looks and build quality can trump even the best sounding headset if it can’t hold up after just a few play sessions. The Razer Electra is available in two colors. I opted for the completely black option, but there’s also a green option that features Razer’s screamin’ green styling that most of their peripherals seem to feature. The appearance you pick is purely up to you, as the headsets operate the same no matter the color. As you can see in the picture below, Razer branding is seen across the top of the headband in both the black and green models, and the Razer ouroboros features on each ear cup.

I’ve used the Razer Electra for about a month now, mostly exclusively with the Wii U. It’s a sturdy headset that can handle being dropped and folded up multiple times and the wires are quite sturdy. They’re also the main thing that tends to go wrong with a headset, as you’ll see in numerous product reviews on Amazon. Since the wire is completely detachable from the headset, the only thing you’ll need to do is replace the wire, which is easily done. Overall, for the price you pay for the headset and the ease of storage, sound quality and build quality, I feel like the Razer Electra is a great deal at $50.

It’s a bit disrespectful IMO. If somebody was like, “Thanks, girl!” to me. And then said, “Sorry, I’m just so used to calling people “girl””. I don’t think I’d appreciate it very much.

Link Slayer

Well my wife has never had a problem with it and she says that to her female friends all the time. Do you have any female friends? Are you female? If you have any female friends if you are a male next time they do something nice for you say thanks man they wont care! My wife says thanks man all the time to her friends and lots of my lady friends say thanks man to there lady friends. Have you ever watched school of rock. Mrs. Mullins your the Man. I have lots of girl friends and It has not offended them once. You are just looking at it in a sexiest view. I’ve also said thanks girl. But if she (the person writing this article) finds it offensive let her tell me and maybe I will not say that anymore. Maybe because i’m from the South and we are a bit differnt but it dont bother anyone here or at least I haven’t been informed by any female. And im in a Rock band that plays in front of hundreds of people and has a whole lot of female friends.

Adrian

Just stating my opinion. It’s not true for everybody I know.

Link Slayer

I truly am sorry if I have offended anyone.

Adrian

I’m certain you didn’t. I initially pointed it out in case you thought this article was written by a man.

Link Slayer

But it was not my intention to hurt anyone feelings or start a negitive conversation I was just thanking someone for recomending some headphones that I could potentially buy. Thanks Ashley King.

Just plug the headset into the Wii U GamePad and turn the sound on your TV off.

Adrian

Pure genius! Although, I imagine some games may have two different audio streams (one for gamepad one for T.V., like ZombiU). I’m curious what happens in these cases.

Adrian

I realize that may have come off as if I was making fun of you. Just wanted to clarify that I wasn’t.

[000]

You spend a little cash and buy wireless portable AUX adapter and receiver set with volume controls, then get simple two to one AUX merger, and plug the wireless receiver set into the TV AUX port and the merger, and the GamePad into the merger, and then plug the headphones into the other end of the merger, and stabilize the TV audio to a proportional decimal output to the gamepad, and enjoy your game!

But wait, if the audio was different, chances are, the game would probably require the both the GamePad AND the TV anyway, right? Zombiu does, after all.

Sdudyoy

Rayman Legends challenge mode is out.

AAAkabob

Indeed.

Hella

slap dick

Guest

slap

Peter Rogers

Yes indeed. And todays daily challenge is addictive as hell

Johny

i love it ! and its effing free x) ,…. its so awesome.. and has a great ranking system

AAAkabob

Gah! $50 is a great deal for good headphones, but I’m already resisting using my credit card for MH3…IE: Broke college student problems

MetroidZero

Amen to that.

Laud

I feel you bro. ;u;

Adrian

Ah nostalgia. I was a broke college student just 4 or 5 years ago. I lived off 900 bucks a month (from my mom). $750 to rent and bills, $100-$130 a month for food (groceries, can’t afford to eat out). So I might have had 10 or 20 bucks a month for fun. Haha. Just another reason why my game purchases (I buy used 90% of the time) have to be good games. One game needs to last me at least 100 hours of entertainment, or else I feel I was cheated!

Before haters hate, as most college students know, it’s effing HARD to get a job (even the on campus ones). I tried. But with no prior experience I couldn’t find anybody willing to hire me….well except this CL scam that gave you $2000 a month for 80 hours/week work. I did the math and that’s around 6 bucks and hour. Eff that.

Nintendofreak

same here bro broke but i have my x12 headphones like a year now..no job…no money..no girl..no love..in college and all alone

Agent721

Dont fret! I was where you are a decade ago, but ten years on, money is flowing and buying any games or console is no longer an issue! Keep hussling & it willpayoff! Cheers to the college life!

I haven’t had that problem with these. Like I said, once they’re on and the gamepad volume is on max, you can’t hear anything outside of the game.

usama notkani

its so expensive in america. In my country its like 300PKR(bout $3)

Wren Justin Umlauf

I bought the green ones the summer before I got a Wii U. I was so happy that the Wii U had an inline mic input on the gamepad. Even with splitters I couldnt get it to work properly with my xbox. I just wish the gamepad was a little louder. Sometimes I want to really hear the game and explosions and stuff. I know these headphones have the power, but the Wii U doesnt use their full potential.

[000]

Well, if it really bothers you, can always buy a small, battery powered portable headphone amp for around $30 or so, and you’d be able to use ANY headphones and still have them as loud as you’d like.

Guest

Excuse my ignorance or naivety, but arn’t wii u headsets supposed to come with voice capabilities because the wii u gamepad microphone isn’t used for in-gaming?

RoboConker

That was a rumor that people started spreading around, you can use the mic from the gamepad on any game that has voice chat.

Johny

well you can use the mic from the gamepad in monster hunter 3 u.. so i dont know why couldnt you in other games too…

Nuno

after a long search for a decent headset for the wii u i’ve decided to get this one and im glad i did! great sound for a great price, plug and play, coudn’t be easier.